Navy to set up central office for management of IT funds

NEW ORLEANS—The Navy will soon establish an office that will control and manage how IT funds are allocated.On Oct. 1, the Office of the Assistant Chief of Naval Operations for IT (ANCO-IT) will operate as a component of the Naval Network Warfare Command in Norfolk, Va. It has been discussed for more than five years, since the inception of the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet program, according to Mark Mohler, the assistant deputy director, Assistant Chief of Naval Operations for Information Technology. The office, initially staffed by 80 people, will be managing the resources and requirements for programs like NMCI and the Outside the Continental United States Navy Enterprise Network in the Far East (One-Net). The latter initiative seeks to replace most of the Navy's disparate networks at major fleet bases and stations.NMCI is a consolidated voice, video and data network that will link 360,000 sailors and Marines to an integrated portal managed by EDS Corp. "We're going to bring discipline to the management of the enterprise," said Mohler, who spoke today during a panel discussion at the Department of the Navy Enterprise IT Industry Symposium. "We're in charge of managing the Navy's portions that make up investments in IT infrastructure and enterprise services."Mohler said some of the key areas the new organization will focus on include:"We're going to be agile and we're going to return the investment. We're going to build a road map," Mohler added.